The Wrecking Crew have shown up in dozens of comics, cartoons and videogames and have fought pretty much every hero in the MU. And yet, they're just generic strong bad guys with generic identical tough bad guy personalities and generic tough guy strength powers. Any comic they're in is good in spite of the, not because of them. Why do they keep getting used?
>>81932871
Electro, the only reason anyone cares about him is because of his powers. He has no consistent personality trait other than "bad guy that hates Spider-Man". He's the most boring of Spider-Man's recurring foes.
>>81932871
Wrecking Crew are jobbers, they don't need more story than that.
Joker
Shittiest Bat villain ever
>>81932871
they had a few decent character moments in "Secret War" and a decent arc in "Omega Flight". and Wrecker himself had some neat stuff happening in the Eric masterson Thor run
>>81933710
I agree as far as comics go, but he was pretty great in Spectacular Spider-Man.
>>81935605
worse than Condiment King?
The crew were goat on EMH.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7D6qh9EehmE
>>81932871
>Why do they keep getting used?
Because you can't deny at core....at the very core, they're very neat and a cool concept.
>>81935668
Wasn't there a comic where Condiment King mopped the floor with the Batfam for half the issue?
In a minor role Thunderball has had some development in Illuminati.
>>81936856
Yeah, that's because Williamson actually remembered that Thunderball is supposed to be smart, for years he was just as dumb as the rest of the Wrecking Crew. The Wrecker has had some interesting solo moments as well.
But Bulldozer and Piledriver are generic forgettable and interchangeable failures.
>>81936856
Philosophical question: If a character gets development and no one is reading does he truly develop at all?
>>81939283
Only if different writers actually follow through on the development instead of ignoring it by making Thunderball regress to being a dumb thug again.
Scorpion hasn't really had any good ones. Even in Dark Avengers he was just relegated to people eating symbiote guy. I thought Peter David was going to do something with him in Spider-Man 2099 but nope.
>>81940061
Gargan Venom was a mistake. Why did they give the Symbiote to one of Spider-Man's lamest villains? They even went out of their way to point out that Scorpion was a loser in the story where he got the Symbiote.
>>81932871
You never read Venom: Deathtrap: The Vault, did you?
Thunderball was great in that.
>>81940894
Never heard of it. What happened there?
>>81933710HE LIED TO ME.
>>81938198
But I thought being a dumb jock type was Piledriver's thing, like a football player stereotype.
>>81939283
Yes, because as long as one of us reads it and calls out crappy writers for ignoring it the truth can get out there.
>>81940894
Thanks, I will check this out. I want to see more smart Thunderball. The Wrecking Crew was always one of my favorite bad guy teams, but I haven't read all of their exploits.
On a related note, what is it with all of the older era bad guys of Thor and Hulk being some of the coolest? Those two have the most bad ass rogues galleries. I read all of their old comics not for the heroes, but the villains.
Speaking of Illuminati is a TITANIA book! Who saw that coming? Its from her POV, and its becoming the defining Titania/Crusher Creel book too. Williamson said he's going to carry the story on after the run is over. I can't wait to see what happens in #7 and where its going to go. They might be the oldest power couple in the MU.
>>81941293
>But I thought being a dumb jock type was Piledriver's thing, like a football player stereotype.
But everyone in the Wrecking Crew acts like a dumb jock, that doesn't make him stand out. And what's Bulldozer's thing?
>>81941447
"Dishonorably discharged Master Sergeant in the US Army". And he has a daughter who is also a "Bulldozer". But she isn't buff. (Wasted opportunity....)
I looked up Piledriver too. He is a, "good o'l country boy", so my football jock theory was close to the mark (I'm from Texas, they're practically the same stereotype here.)
>>81941166
Venom and Mentallo manage to start a breakout in the Vault, things go bad, Freedom Force and the Avengers show up, things get worse because the Warden set up a nuke to blow up the prison.
Thunderball becomes one of the 'leaders' of the prisoner factions.
>>81933710
Electro had Light the Night arc from JM DeMatteis. Sure, it wasn't as strong as KLH or Child Within, but it was still great.
>>81935652
Honestly, no. He was pretty terrible. Also, they made him a little TOO incompetent.
>>81938198
Honestly, I liked that Thunderball always talks about how smart he is and then procedes with getting his ass kicked by everybody.
>>81932871
Untrue. Defalco's Thor & Code Blue. Faggot.Unless you specifically mean them as a group in which case apologies.
>>81932871
>Why do they keep getting used?
You answer your own question in the post.
>>81932871
The Wrecking Crew exist because they're tough and distinctive, but they're also expendable. They're like the Cadre or the Royal Flush Gang or any of those other generic evil teams who show up to get their asses handed to them. It's a good way to show that your character is tough without stepping on anyone's toes.
>>81932871
How should the Wrecking Crew be adapted to the MCU?
I think they would be suited for TV, they could work as villains for the Defenders. They could also show up in that proposed Damage Control series, since causing loads of property damage is the Wrecking Crew's thing.
>>81936856
Thunderball was also a bro in Damage Control, back in the bay.
>>81942960
The Wrecking Crew are way out of the Defender's league.
They are mooks, but Thor Tier mooks.
>>81942960
The Wrecking Crew are one of those villain teams that can kind of just show up without explanation.
>>81932871
And i hope the wrecking crew never gets a backstory. I like them as just filler villains that can show up and dissapear for no reason.
>>81944389
But they have a backstory. Mostly they have the strength of a Norse god divided between them.
>>81942373
I disagree, he was finding his place in that universe. I remember in the team-up he had with the Vulture, Electro was really enthusiastic as one of the Sinister 6. Unfortunately like Sandman, he has very little control or understanding about his powers, he was like the "young student" archetype of the rouges gallery.
>>81944389
>>81944389
They do have a backstory.
Wrecker was some asshole thug who Loki gave powers to to fuck with Thor, and then the rest of the Crew each got a quarter of his power after more magic shenanigans.
>>81935652
>>81945469
I feel you man, I loved him in SSM. The pathos they gave him really made him work. I think the coffee scene was what nailed it for me.
>>81932871
I think the black one's a nuclear physicist. He had a few great appearances in Damage Control.
>>81946842
>black one
Thunderball, please.
>>81945845
Like Crusher, who got his ball and chain enhanced by Loki, too. I see a trend in Thor's villains. Even Executioner (at least one of them) was also enhanced by Thor's magical villains, in this case Enchantress. Not a big deal, but an interesting trope to point out.
>>81942960
They'd honestly work best for a Season long threat for one of the shows if they had the budget for them. They're best when played as a gang of assholes who laugh at people and fuck shit up. I remember during Siege when they kicked Wiccan's ass and then laughed at him and basically called him a faggot.
>>81947168
But that aspect of Thor's rogue's has yet to be played out in the MCU so having them be the first instance of magic being granted to evil mortals who are just brickhouses of destruction would be pretty cool. Definetely a shift from the evil wizard or demon possessed archetypes we usually see on television.
>>81932871
The same reason that the Circus of Crime still appears. They're classics.
>>81947911
Well if Thors dying in Ragnarok they can have his hammer fall to earth and Donald Blake cap pick up where he left off. Finally introduce the wreckers, maybe the relms we havent visited yet
>>81940230
Honestly, it could have been so cool too. Venom bonding with someone that, albeit an idiot, has just as much anger as Brock with none of the moral foundation.
Should have given GarganVenom a tail, too.
>>81932871
I'd say the Wrecking Crew are a great example of villains with no depth. They're thugs and bank robbers with magically enhanced tools giving them super strength.
No tragic back stories, just goons.
>>81948053
The Russos already said they're excited to direct him in the IW movies. He's not dying in Ragnarok. Asgard's likely going to get fucked up by Thanos though and Loki might be dead by the end of it. I could see that somehow playing into the Wrecking Crew getting powered up. Also they could do some other source considering Thor is more sci fi so maybe they repurpose Asgardian tech or have some Doctor Strange link for their magic abilities instead.
>>81941293
As far as I remember, Roger Stern also wrote a solo Thunderball story in his Amazing Spider-Man run. He kind of highlighted Thunderball's "smart guy" traits there and showed him trying to go solo without the rest of the WC while commanding his own squad of goons.
>>81947911
I get what you're saying. That would be an interesting arc.
>>81940230
It actually made some sense to give it to Scorpion in the sense that Scorpion was pretty much the original evil version of Spider-Man, though he got outclassed later on by Venom.
>>81948053
>Well if Thors dying in Ragnarok they can have his hammer fall to earth and Donald Blake cap pick up where he left off.
Fuck that. We don't need a fucking Donald Blake in MCU. Do you even realize what that would mean? It would mean that they would bring the obsolete Donald Blake back to 616 and force Thor to be a boring mortal again instead of a frost giant slaying god.
>>81940894
>>81942176
It also exists as Avengers: Deathtrap: The Vault if that helps you find it. It was printed twice under the different names.
And I say this despite liking the character.
Nearly all of his appearances, at least in the main Punisher stories, are mediocre at best.
